New Web Site Provides Tools For Manufacturers And Purchasers

Manufacturers and purchasers who are seeking information on sustainable production and consumption can now access The Green Standard’s new website at www.TheGreenStandard.org. Developed collaboratively with Azul Arc International, the updated web site is filled with informative content and an intuitive layout.

In addition to a clean, user friendly design, The Green Standard has expanded and restructured the content to make it easier for readers to learn about programs that will help them enhance their brands and become more competitive. The site includes information on The Green Standard’s new programs, including the first and only environmental product declaration system in the U.S. and the unique Gaia Product Profile, as well as the EcoLibrary compendium of articles created for Interiors & Sources magazine. Plans are to continually update the site with news, additional EPD reports, articles of interest, and comprehensive information on The Green Standard conferences and events.

The new web site coincides with the launch of The Green Standard’s Bright Green Future campaign, a yearlong educational initiative to empower manufacturers and purchasers to confidently navigate the environmental landscape while making lighter footprints. The campaign includes the introduction of The Green Standard Environmental Product Declaration System, managed by Paul Firth, vice president of technology. In addition to the EPD System, which is considered to be the core component in the emerging global product information system, the website provides access to Gaia Product Profile, an innovative tool that provides specifiers and purchasers with a summary of all of the information in a full EPD report.

A new feature of The Green Standard’s educational resources is their Green Purchasing Accredited Professional training, an intensive “best practices” training and certification for architects, engineers, contractors, interior designers, facility managers, and governmental and educational procurement professionals.

The website also details a new membership program offers incentives to join The Green Standard as it provides free use of many of their education, technology, and training resources for manufacturers and purchasers.

The Green Standard President and CEO Deborah Dunning says that the development of the Bright Green, Bright Future campaign with all its elements is the culmination of the organization’s work over the past nine years. “We are pleased to be able to support U.S. manufacturers in becoming even more effective in the global marketplace through development of a comprehensive EPD system and believe that this work, along with our educational programs, will meet a longstanding need of both institutional and individual consumers in North America,” she says.

The Green Standard is a not for profit organization founded in 2000 to advance sustainable production and consumption, using lifecycle based resources. TGS provides education, technology, and training for manufacturers and purchasers on product eco-design, certification and purchase. TGS works in open and transparent ways on these resources, using best practices in consensus-based development to insure stakeholder participation, often collaborating with other organizations to develop tools that are innovative yet practical.